The PORTL Laboratory.

In the history of the field, behavior analysts have used the operant chamber as an apparatus for both teaching and experimental investigations. In the early days of the field, students spent significant time in the animal laboratory, using operant chambers to conduct hands-on experiments. These experiences allowed students to see behavior change as an orderly process and drew many students toward careers in behavior analysis. Today, most students no longer have access to animal laboratories. However, the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab (PORTL) can fill this void. PORTL is a table-top game that creates a free-operant environment for studying the principles of behavior and their application. This article will describe how PORTL works and the parallels between PORTL and the operant chamber. Examples will illustrate how PORTL can be used to teach concepts such as differential reinforcement, extinction, shaping, and other basic principles. In addition to its use as a teaching tool, PORTL provides a convenient and inexpensive way for students to replicate research studies and even conduct their own research projects. As students use PORTL to identify and manipulate variables, they gain a deeper understanding for how behavior works.

Equines do not live for grass alone: Training equines using social interaction as a reinforcer.

Functional analysis data and previous studies on animal training have demonstrated that social interaction with humans can serve as a reinforcer for animals. Yet, some studies have demonstrated that tactile interaction (e.g., patting, petting, or scratching) is less effective or ineffective when compared to food. However, the reinforcement procedures used may account for these discrepancies. The current study investigated whether tactile interaction, in the form of petting and scratching, could be used as a reinforcer to train behaviors to two horses and a mule. First, each equine learned when reinforcement would be available and what behaviors to engage in during reinforcement delivery. Next, a series of shaping steps and a changing-criterion design were used to test whether tactile interaction could be used to shape two new behaviors, stay and come. All three equines completed reinforcement training and met the mastery criteria for training stay and come. These results demonstrate that tactile interaction can be used as a reinforcer to train equines and also suggest that details of the reinforcement delivery process may be an important consideration when tactile interaction is used as a reinforcer.

Constructional fear treatment: Teaching fearful shelter dogs to approach and interact with a novel person.

Of the millions of dogs that enter animal shelters in the United States each year, many exhibit behaviors labeled as fear, which can decrease their likelihood of adoption. Current dog training procedures to treat these behaviors can take months or even years to show significant change. When these procedures are used in shelters, they mainly focus on reducing fear, as opposed to teaching specific behaviors to increase adoptions. The goal of the current study was to teach fearful shelter dogs to interact with a novel person. A seven-step shaping procedure used the removal of the novel person as a reinforcer. The dogs learned a series of behaviors, starting with looking at the person and small head movements and progressing until the dog was approaching the front of the kennel and voluntarily interacting with the person. All three dogs completed the program in a short amount of time (under 40 min) and showed an increase in approaching the front of the kennel, sniffing, tail wagging, and accepting petting. These behaviors persisted during a return-to-baseline condition, suggesting that the newly shaped behaviors had come under the control of positive reinforcement in the form of social interaction with the experimenter.

Reducing the occurrence of mouthing and jumping in a dog through conditional discrimination training.

Many approaches for reducing unwanted behavior use punishment, extinction, or noncontingent reinforcement. Other methods focus on teaching and reinforcing alternative behaviors that can replace the unwanted behavior. Another strategy can be to change the stimulus control of the unwanted behavior. The present study investigated if conditional discrimination training using positive reinforcement could reduce undesirable behaviors in a pet dog. After conditional discrimination training, two unwanted behaviors (jumping and mouthing) occurred reliably in the presence of new discriminative stimuli, while other behaviors occurred in the presence of the discriminative stimuli that had previously produced these unwanted behaviors. This experiment demonstrates that conditional discrimination training can be an effective way to control the frequency of an unwanted behavior by controlling the frequency of the presentation of a discriminative stimulus.

Some detrimental effects of conditioned reinforcement on the maintenance of dog behavior.

In animal training, there is disagreement regarding whether a conditioned reinforcer, such as the sound of a clicker, should always be followed by an unconditioned reinforcer, such as a treat. Proponents for clicking without always giving a treat argue that the click can substitute for the reinforcer, due to Pavlovian conditioning and the partial reinforcement effect. Those who advise always following the click with a treat argue that the clicker will become an unreliable predictor of food if it is not always followed by an unconditioned reinforcer. In this study, a within-subject reversal design with two dogs was used to compare the behavioral effects of always following a click with food (one click condition) and only sometimes following a click with food (two clicks condition). Results showed that the two clicks condition disrupted the frequency, accuracy, and topography of the behavior and increased noncompliance and other unwanted behaviors. While the detrimental effects of this condition may seem paradoxical at first, they can be explained by the discriminative properties of the conditioned reinforcer.

The Effects of Hearsee/Say and Hearsee/Write on Acquisition, Generalization, and Retention.

This study examined the effects of training in 2 yoked learning channels (hearsee/say and hearsee/write) on the acquisition, generalization, and retention of learning. Four 5th-grade participants were taught the lowercase letters of the Greek alphabet; 12 letters were taught in the hearsee/say channel and 12 letters were taught in the hearsee/write channel for equal amounts of time. The hearsee/say channel reached higher frequencies at the end of training and showed higher acquisition celerations than the hearsee/write channel. However, the hearsee/write channel showed higher accuracy and retention than the hearsee/say channel. The hearsee/write channel also showed greater generalization across learning channels including the see/say, think/say, think/write, and see-name/draw-symbol channels. This research has implications for the design of instruction.

The power of one reinforcer: The effect of a single reinforcer in the context of shaping.

During shaping, if the organism is engaged in behaviors other than the current approximation, the amount of time between reinforcers increases. In these situations, the shaper may resort to what is referred to as a "desperation-driven click." That is, after a period of no reinforcement, the shaper delivers one reinforcer for a nontarget approximation. Reports from professional animal trainers suggest that the animal may continue performing this new behavior, even if it is reinforced only once. This study attempted to model this phenomenon with college students. Results from the study demonstrated that a desperation-driven click situation can be reliably produced in a controlled setting. When participants received one reinforcer for interacting with a new object following a period of no reinforcement, they interacted with the new object for a longer or equal amount of time as compared to an object that had a longer history of reinforcement. The results of this study have implications for the understanding of how reinforcement controls behavior.

Functional analysis and treatment of self-injury in a captive olive baboon.

Self-injurious behavior (SIB), such as self-biting and head banging, has been reported to occur in approximately 10% of captive, individually housed nonhuman primates. Accounts of the etiology of SIB in primates range from ecological to physiological. However, to date, no research has examined the possible influence of social consequences delivered by handlers and keepers in the maintenance of SIB in this population. The current study investigated the effects of social contact as a potentially reinforcing consequence for the SIB displayed by an olive baboon (Papio hamadryas anubis). Results indicated that the behavior was maintained by attention from humans. As treatment, reinforcement was arranged for an appropriate alternative response, resulting in increases in the appropriate alternative behavior and decreases in SIB.

The effects of graduated exposure, modeling, and contingent social attention on tolerance to skin care products with two children with autism.

Children with autism may display unusual or fearful responses to common stimuli, such as skin care products. Parents of children with autism have often reported that their children will not allow the application of these types of substances to their skin and if the parent persists, the children become extremely upset and anxious. Such responding can interfere with adaptive functioning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a treatment package involving graduated exposure to steps in an avoidance hierarchy, modeling, and social attention on the responding of two children with autism who displayed fearful responses to skin care products. Both avoidance and acceptance responses to skin care products were measured. Both changing criteria and multiple baseline experimental designs were employed to assess the effects of the intervention package. The results suggest that the package was successful in teaching tolerance of skin products for both children.

A two-choice preference assessment with five cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus).

A study selected 5 cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) located at the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville, Texas, for a food preference assessment. The study used a paired-choice procedure across 7 different food items for all 5 tamarins. Preferences for the food items across all the tamarins varied, although general trends were noted as well. This article discusses the benefits of using paired-choice preference assessments in zoo settings.